“Oh Giselle, What Have You Done?”
The first time I saw Enchanted, I fell under its spell. I have at various times been both excited and worried about the development of Disenchanted, the sequel. Okay, fine, mostly excited. Unfortunately, it turned out that there were some good ideas in there in search of a movie.
It’s been a few years (but not as many as it has been in real life), since we last saw Giselle (Amy Adams), Robert (Patrick Dempsey), and Morgan (now played by Gabriella Baldacchino). In that time, Giselle is finding that even finding true love doesn’t mean you have a happily ever after. Thanks to a new baby, they’ve outgrown their New York apartment, so Giselle has spearheaded a move to the suburbs, specifically Monroeville.
The move is rough, especially since their fixer upper isn’t quite fixed up yet. Morgan doesn’t want to try to make new friends in a new school, and Robert is realizing what a grind the commute back to the city will be. Meanwhile, Giselle is finding that Malvina (Maya Rudolph), who runs their new town, isn’t as friendly as she first appears.
All this leads Giselle to wish that their lives were a fairytale. The next morning, she is thrilled to discover that her wish has come true. That is, until she begins to discover the side effects of her wish. Can it be reversed? What are the consequences if it becomes permanent?
What made the first movie so much fun is that Disney was essentially spoofing itself. There were lots of in jokes and winks to the cliches of the fairytales they are most famous for. Giselle as a fish out of water in the real world expecting it to be the way she was used to was a riot, as was the reactions of the other characters when they witnessed her doing what she thought was normal. The songs were fantastic, too, briming with humor.
Much of that is missing here.
As I said at the start, there are some good ideas here. I’m not going to spoil them for you, but I was delighted when I realized where they were going with things. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t capitalize on them as well as it could. Yes, there were parts that were amusing, but nothing that was truly funny.
I’ve also got to say, the movie had a slow start. You know where it is going, and I get that it had to set some things up, but I kept waiting for us to get to act 2 and the real start of the story.
As I said, the first worked so well because it was spoofing Disney so perfectly. That was all missing here. There are a few wink and nod moments I enjoyed, but it lacked the same level of smart spoofing.
Then there are the songs. Only one is memorable and fun. The rest are actually pedestrian. I appreciate that they let the entire cast have songs this time around, but the songs just weren’t that good and didn’t add much to the movie.
Yes, there were a few things I liked. Amy Adams is fantastic once again. There are some great scenes that really allow her to show off her acting, and she is perfect at it. Maya Rudolph is likewise fantastic. And Gabriella Baldacchino is good at giving us hints of the Morgan we already know while making her a teenager. I’ll admit, I found some of the cast a little annoying, but I have a feeling that was how they were told to play the characters. No, Patrick Dempsey wasn’t one of them – he just wasn’t given that much to do.
The other thing that I really liked was that, while Morgan is a teenager and not the wide-eyed girl we met in the first movie, they don’t make her a complete stereotype. Yes, there is some of that in there, but they worked hard to make us understand her and why she was feeling the way she was. And, while she doesn’t always get along with Giselle, she still clearly loves her stepmom. It was a refreshing change from so many teens we see in pop culture.
When I watched the first movie, I was smiling and laughing the entire time. It ended, and I left the movie theater wishing I could watch it again. This one? I’d rather just watch the first again instead.
I know lots of fans who will rush out to watch Disenchanted like I did. It’s just a shame that the movie doesn’t live up to the fun of the first movie.
I had heard this movie wasn't as good as Enchanted. Nice review, Mark, I like how you break down everything that didn't work for you.
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